The Art of Wrestling with Colt Cabana
Episode 285 – Dan Maff
January 14, 2016
DIRECT LINK TO LISTEN/DOWNLOAD
Report by Chris Davidson
Hot Topics
– Dan Maff reflects on growing up in wrestling
– Colt Cabana talks about changing what wrestling can be to attract new fans.
Timestamps
0:00 – Introduction
7:22 – Song of the Week
9:23 – Dan Maff Interview
15:28 – Maff talks growing up connected to wrestling
26:23 – Maff talks Puerto Rico, ROH, and being a paramedic
33:12 – Maff talks changing his idea of what wrestling can be
43:20 – Maff talks Da Hit Squad
50:40 – Colt and Maff wrap up their interview
56:24 – Colt wraps up the show
Episode Summary
0:00 – Introduction – Colt opened the show joking about living next to a train and promoting his new keychains for sale that finally arrived from Mexico. Colt brought up this week’s guess, Dan Maff, as the best smelling man in wrestling and thanked him for a bottle of cologne. Colt detailed his history in ROH and PWS with Maff, and applauded Maff for being a high level wrestler on the independents while juggling work and family. Colt talked about his past weekend with First Wrestling, and pondered how to get people who aren’t in to wrestling to see fun shows that incorporate wrestling, burlesque, and music, such as First Wrestling and Lucha Va Voom.
7:22 – Song of the Week – The song of the week this week is “California Smile” by Damir Bojanic.
9:23 – Dan Maff Interview – Colt opened the interview joking with Maff about smelling good. Maff mentioned that he wears Egyptian Musk oil, and talked about the person who introduced him to wearing oil scents. Maff said that he doesn’t like smelling bad and Colt compared it to him chewing gum because he’s worried about bad breath. Colt and Maff joked about wrestlers not washing their gear and smelling bad in the ring.
15:28 – Maff talks growing up connected to wrestling – Maff started training with Andrew “Magic” Morgan in 1998, and didn’t make the cut at first, but was invited to training because of his passion. Maff’s father was a referee, and Maff took his first bump in a ring in 1979. Colt contrasted Maff bringing his family to shows today to his dad breaking kayfabe with him in the ’70s and ’80s. Maff talked about all the wresters he met growing up and Colt was impressed that he knew all of the old WWF jobbers. Maff mentioned a lot of former superstars who were friendly to him as a child, and said Ox Baker always scared him growing up. Maff is the youngest of 14 children, which brought and audible gasp from Colt. Maff briefly went into his family history from Puerto Rico and talked about being the only child from his parent’s, but with an enormous amount of other family. Maff talked in depth about his dad as a heel referee.
26:23 – Maff talks Puerto Rico, ROH, and being a paramedic – Colt asked if Maff speaks Spanish, which he does. Colt joked that Maff is not a novelty in Puerto Rico, and Maff said he has done some his best heel work in the time he was in Puerto Rico. Maff talked about the groups he went to Puerto Rico with, including Homicide and New Jack, among others. Colt and Maff also discussed different wrestlers they worked with in Ring of Honor. Colt asked if Maff wonders about wrestlers who get out of the business, and Maff said that he doesn’t worry about it and loves helping younger wrestlers get started in the business. Maff talked about being a paramedic and being a teamster’s representative, but he still makes time for wrestling practice twice a week.
33:12 – Maff talks changing his idea of what wrestling can be – Maff talked about his dad not wanting him to be a wrestler because there is so much more he could have done. Maff said that he was born to be a wrestler, since he loves being in the ring. Maff initially didn’t know that ECW existed until he had already began wrestling but that it changed how he looked at wrestling. Maff talked about a job he had where he worked security for a guy who hosted wrestler autograph sessions, and he got to meet a lot of wrestlers and got free tickets to shows. One of the shows he got tickets to was a Jersey All Pro show where he saw a man dressed as a nun hit someone with a barbed wire 2×4, and it blew his mind. Colt compared seeing new styles of wrestling to hearing different styles of stand-up. Maff said that he started wrestling old
43:20 – Maff talks Da Hit Squad – Colt went back to Maff’s training with “Magic” Morgan, and Maff talked about seeing Colt at a small show in New Jersey that Colt couldn’t remember. Colt asked Maff who some of the weirder people he wrestled and about Da Hit Squad, Maff’s tag team in the late 90s with Monsta Mack. Colt asked about Da Hit Squad “darting” people into the wall, and Maff said that it was mostly his tag team partner since he wasn’t strong enough. Maff said he hit the ground running in wrestling because Homicide took a liking to him.
50:40 – Colt and Maff wrap up their interview – Colt asked if Maff has any regrets. Maff mentioned being overwhelmed in ROH when he was given an opportunity, but he wasn’t ready for the pressure of a strong push. Maff mentioned a spot with Colt where they did the tango in the middle of a match, that Colt said he didn’t know if he would do today. Maff said that since every match was main event caliber, you had to take risks to stand out in ROH, which made for a strong promotion. Maff said that he thinks today he could handle and opportunity and hopes to lead by example in the locker room. Colt wrapped up the interview joking about Maff’s smell and plugging Maff’s social media.
56:24 – Colt wraps up the show – Colt praised Maff and said his day is still to come. Colt also apologized for the weird sounds on this week’s episode, since they were in a hallway. Colt plugged his upcoming events, thanked his fans, Dan Maff, his tech help and sponsors before signing off.
SCORE & REVIEW
I wasn’t familiar with Dan Maff going into this episode, but I definitely learned a lot about his history. This episode focused heavily on the experiences he had prior to becoming a wrestler, and I wish it would have had more about his career from becoming a wrestler in 1998 to the present. This issue had some weird sound issues that Colt explained were due to taping in a hallway, but could perhaps have been edited better. All in all, this episode was engrossing and interesting for fans of Maff’s brand of wrestling, and was a good listen overall.
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